>> a little bit of light rain in ocean city as we keep an eye at hurricane earl. i will have a live report. >> the ken harris murdered trout is proving tricky. white jury selection has become a real problem. >> the ravens preseason stumbles to the finish line against the rams in st. louis. we have highlights. >> will kind of weather can we expect for the holiday weekend? [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. sandra shaw has a quick look at the forecast. we have some good news. >> we have great news. upper 70's and plenty of sunshine. one more hot day today. hurricane earl is a category 2 storm, 85 miles southeast of cape hatteras. they are dealing with tropical storm force conditions right now. it is moving at 18 miles per hour. like recent wind and rain later this morning and maybe early afternoon in ocean city. then clearing nicely there as well. on friday, 87 to 90, one more hot one. the wind will pick up. there is more cool air behind that front. that will pave the way for a lovely labor day weekend.

more coming up. but now let's check on your morning commute with kim dacey. >> looking pretty good also as we start the labor day weekend. in ellicott city, eastbound not, there is a a downed pole and some downed wires at waverly woods drive. it is on the shoulder. there are some crews on the scene. otherwise, we are looking good. we're up to speed on the inner loop topside, eight minutes. 895 park between 95 on the south side and the harbor tunnel looking at 9 minutes. this is a live view at liberty road on the west side of the beltway. no delays to report. harford road looking good, as well. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> after watching and waiting all week, hurricane earl is making its way along the east coast this morning. >> the first signs of the storm

hit the outer banks about four hours ago. mandatory evacuations have made things easier for emergency workers. >> it may very well affect all of cape cod and the islands off of cape cod with gusty winds, high surf, and hurricane conditions expected. the end of long island will get hit. it will be a close call for much of the east coast. >> officials are waiting for daybreak to begin patrolling the coast and to check for damage. earl produced little storm surge. >> people in the ocean city are keeping a close eye in anticipation of earl's arrival. lowell melser has been in ocean city since wednesday covering all of the preparations. he joins us live. i know you took the heavy rain

gear, but looks like you were not going to need it. >> i am disappointed. you're expecting me to be blowing around here. i do not think that will happen. i did put on the rain jacket as we're getting some light rain. 76 degrees with a 763 dew point. we're fully saturated. we expect to see some straight raindrops here and there and some of the bands coming in with more rain later in the morning. the worst of rain expected to be between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at this point. we spoke with emerge as the management officials. they open up their facilities around 4:00 a.m. this point to make sure that everything was cool and everyone knew what they had to do. they are expecting some minor flooding and maybe some minor beach erosion as the storm passes through. things are pretty much status quo at this hour.

some tourists actually canceled their plans and decided to head home early. thursday was a beautiful day in ocean city. it was evident that earl was have it in impact. wereal tourists cutting their vacation early. >> the roads will be blocked probably and the mayor of ocean city said nobody should be of the roads tomorrow leaving. we will have to leave today. >> we cut our vacation short because of the hurricane. but now we're waiting and making reservations. >> now you have another hurricane. hotels were dealing with a lot of phone calls, mostly concerns about earl and whether they should cancel. >> people are curious as to what the protocol is going to big.

>> lifeguards also put the brakes on swimmers who were only allowed to go would need deep because of rip currents. only experience surfers were allowed in all the way. >> if you're not trained to identify a rip current, you are not allowed in the water. >> there was a meeting to make sure everyone was on the same page, including state and local officials. >> just to get the word out and ask everybody to use good common sense and to prepare for tropical winds. >> officials removed lifeguard chairs off the beach as they expect some debris to blow around. they are also expect some minor flooding. they felt confident ocean city will be spirit from any major damage. >> we feel comfortable in the forecast. we have our plans in place and we're ready to go and to clean up quickly for the rest of the

visitors. >> it appears that will hold true as we look at the most recent models and start heading out to the northeast and east. for now, live in ocean city, lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> you can track every move of hurricane earl. go to wbaltv.com. >> it looks like jury selection will be a long and complicated process in the trial of three men accused of murdering ken harris. jennifer franciotti joins us live with more. >> when you shop for jury duty, if you do not know which case you are going to hear. jurors were shocked to hear this is the ken harris murder trial. they found out the case could last for five weeks. they said they could not do it. others said they were the victim

of a crime and others asked to speak properly with the judge to not be involved with this case. jury selection is expected to last five days. charles mcganey, gary collins, and jerome williams are charged with murder in the shooting death of ken harris. he has stopped by a lounge to use the restroom. he and the club owner were ambushed in a robbery attempt 3 har. harris was shot in the back as he attempted to leave the scene. it will be hard to find an iimpartial panel. >> a lot of people are not going to want to sit on it because they may have known as the victim or they have heard so much about it that they already have formed an opinion. >> prosecutors are expected to

call as many as 50 witnesses to the stand, including the woman who said she was with harris the night he was killed. jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> it is a first of its kind experiment. early voting begins today and it will run through the ninth of the month. leaders of the democratic and republican parties met to encourage voters to take the venice of the process. >> as the leaders of our party, we will work however we can to make sure that early voting is safe and secure and that every vote will be counted. when we have elections, one of the main concerns is apathy. this year, we did not think it will be an issue. with early voting, it will help more voters be more comfortable in choosing when they vote.

>> for more information on where to go to the polls and how the process works, go to our website, wbaltv.com. >> bracelets designed to promote breast cancer awareness have been banned at one school. the message on the bracelet has more than one meetings. it reads "i love boobies." the principal said he is not insensitive to the cause of breast cancer awareness. he thinks the double meaning is not appropriate for school. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. do you think a principal's decision to ban an off-color breast cancer bracelet was an overreaction, or appropriate? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. again, that is watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> 73 degrees on tv hill. a home grown tradition will soon be replaced at ravens games. we have details. >> it is déjà vu all over again

-- or is it? fire crews converge on offshore oil oil rig in the gulf of mexico. >> hurricane earl will be taking it turned away from the delmarva. details on what we can expect is why is roman meal bread nutritious? two slices provide at least sixteen grams of whole grains and an excellent source of calcium. roman meal bread: great taste and nutrition since nineteen-twelve.

>> happy friday. 70 degrees. a very mild downtown temperature this morning. clouds overnight from hurricane earl. let's look at the hurricane. the center of which is 87 miles to the southeast of cape hatteras, north carolina. the spiral bands are starting to affect ocean city. only about 15 miles per hour.

the heaviest rain is centered near virginia beach. sort of a glancing blow last night as it brushed the outer banks. 105 miles per hour sustained winds at the center. the western side is starting to affect ocean city. you can see some rain on the shoreline. it will be a little bit turbulent for the next couple of hours and then things will improve. you can see the weakening. there is no definable eye right now. this one from 140 miles per one 28 category 2 at 105. we have a squeeze play taking place. a cold front will push it further to the northeast. it is moving at 18 miles per hour. behind this front, a huge game changer. we have much cooler conditions

headed for us this weekend. we have been above 90 degrees for 55 degrees. we will drop into the 70's this weekend. -- for 55 days. it will pass by ocean city by about 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. it maybe will clip long island and that ultimately nova scotia it and will be out of the scenario for the weekend. there is a small craft advisory with those gusty winds up to 25 knots. after high tide, just a little bit above normal, so the coastal flood advisory was canceled. we're headed today under high pressure for high of 90 degrees. a cold front gets through tonight and changes thing for the better for the labor day weekend. 79 degrees tomorrow. we will see gusty winds with the

pressure and other than that, a very nice day. 79 degrees on sunday. 81 on sunday with plenty of sunshine. >> we have picked up a situation in baltimore county. we have a down trade that is closed between glen arm and harford road. ellicott city, a downed pole is still on the right shoulder of rorad.erly woodsd ad. north and southbound look good on 95. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> 13 workers on an offshore oil rig were rescued in the gulf of mexico. houston-owned meritor energy said it no oil has leaked into the gulf. it is not known what caused the

fire. no one was injured. business is back to normal at miami international airport after a suspicious package forced officials to evacuate a large part of the facility. dogs were called in to sniff the package. one man is said to be in custody, but no other details have been released. >> they have been a baltimore ballpark tradition for generous, but this year, you will not be getting an esskay hot dogs when you go to see there ravens. the hot stock company has been a ravens vendor since 1998. a better deal from dietz & watson has shoved esskay out for the next three years. apple is looking to take a bite out of the online gaming community.

going up against microsoft xbox live. apple will release a game centered next week. it will allow gamers to play against each other on-line. courtney donohoe has the bloomberg business report. >> hurricane earl is closing in on the nation's insurance company. north, has about $133 billion coastal property covered by insurance. travelers and allstate are among the popular insurance companies trading. the storm is inflicting damage on airline operations. continental airlines has canceled several flights. sprint has invested more than 300 mordollars million dollars in preparations for things like this. bring some life to take to

interactive. they make grand theft auto and are reporting an unexpected profit. a quick trading check. there was a report indicating a possible uptick in home sales due to contract signings in july. investors are going to be looking at the august jobs report coming up before the opening bell. it is expected to rise sharply. about 40,000 private-sector jobs are expected. this could cause some big price swings in stocks say. that is business at the new york stock exchange. i'm courtney donohoe for wbal-tv 11 news. >> 73 degrees on tv hill. another check on weather and traffic straight ahead. >> the ravens wrapped up their preseason schedule last night against the rams. keith mills has more coming up

in sports. >> here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers. hope you have them.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. not looking too bad. there is a downed tree in glen arm. in ellicott city, but a downed pole is on the right shoulder and eastbound 99. no lanes are closed yet. live drive times looking good. 11 minutes on the west side at a

low. 10 minutes and 60 minutes between 95 on the south side. this is a live look outside. greenspring avenue looking good in both directions. 95, same-store, north and southbound moving just fine. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> hurricane earl continues to churn to the southeast of cape hatteras. is the bright blue. we are on the western side, the weakest side. we did see cloud cover in baltimore overnight. take a look at this squeeze play. this is the head of a cold front. it will push earl more to the east-northeast at the morning progresses. the model does verify that. it gets out of our neck of the woods. temperatures in the upper 70's in the wake of that front with

plenty of sun. something to look for too. keith? >> thank you. we will look forward to that. it is on to the regular season now to the ravens. they lost to the rams. none of the ravens starters play. troy smith played the entire game at quarterback. he won the heisman trophy it. sam bradford is the starting quarterback for the rams. this sets up the first touchdown for st. louis. interesting place here. brandon gibson -- it is the interception. he is gone. it starts to celebrate. near theets accucute goal line. john harbaugh was not happy about that. he said yuan not embarrass the ravens under my watch.

better in the second half. nice run by troy smith. he accounted for 95% of the ravens offense per he also scored two touchdowns. the rams put it away. that is how you died then. 27-21. why cannot you just run into the end zone, put the ball down, and run out? " i am proud of the effort. i am proud of the way the guys fought. the next thing is the regular season. we will have to make some cuts and decision. it will be difficult. we will put the best 53-man roster together that we can. >> stay tuned for all of the information. tampa bay rays in town tonight. the birds on able to get the win in the final game of the series last night against boston.

the red scott scored five runs, the first off the bat of adrian beltre. he belted this -- get it? 400-foot home run. nine batters later, it is 5-0 boston. birds climb back in. look out. do not hit the wall. nick markakis and luke scott scored. not enough. the red sox win. how about beatrice capra of ellicott? ellicott you can see her right ear. she is in the near corporate they call her tracy. -- they call her crazy. she upsets aravane rezai in the second round of the u.s. open. match point, appear. capra in the near corporate she attended mcdonough at one time. she will play maria sharapova.

pam shriver, a 16-year-old mcdonough student, made the finals against chris everett patrick tracey goes to the giant everett tennis academy in florida. all connected right there. chris everett is a good friend of hers. >> kudos to you. you did the 11:00 p.m. last night. >> he is amazing. >> this is the 11:00 a.m.? >> we will be right back. ini'm lowell melser live ocean city, where we're still watching hurricane earl. not much going on. we will have the story. >> an economic chalk up today. white economists say it is going to get worse before it gets better. >> there are delays to report on the roads. we do have a couple of incidents to talk about. >> hurricane earl taking a more

easily turned as the day progresses. progresses. i will break it down

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd.

>> good morning, everybody. welcome back. i am stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. sandra shaw has a quick look at the forecast. where is earl? >> it is about 83 miles to the southeast of cape hatteras, north carolina. you can see the spiral bands are affecting those up to virginia beach. ocean city is on the periphery. we could see tropical storm force winds later today. earl is a tropical to storm and then it will be out of there. more of the seven-day forecast at the end of the news block. >> ocean city is hours away from feeling the effects of hurricane earl. >> lowell melser is live with more on the story. >> good morning. i wish we had more to report. at this hour, we have 77 degrees, 77-degree dew point.

we're pretty much saturated. winds of about 20 miles per hour. we have seen some 20 miles per hour wind gusts. it's getting ill little lighter and now you can see some wave action. we are seeing anywhere between - to 12-foot waves. this has become a little bit of a tourism event. folks are coming up down to the inlet and checking out the ways and expecting to see the hurricane that we have been talking about. not much to write home about. just seeing a little bit of wind but we have had some light rain jobs. earlier this morning, ocean city emergency management operations opens up their operation centered on 65th street to make

sure everybody was on the same page. they are expected some minor flooding once the rain moves in. they expect the rain to move and around 10:00 a.m. and then move out around 1:00 p.m. they are also expected some minor beach erosion occurred other than that, it is a windy day at the beach. a bullet dodged down here in ocean city. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. the august employment figures are due out today. this is a closely watched report. kate amara joi us live this morning with more on the story. >> good morning. economists are predicting who will see a slight increase on the unemployment rate. private-sector likely edit 41,000 jobs last month. more temporary census jobs ended

and companies continue to hold back on hiring. investors looking for hints on the health of the economy get result as the latest check up with the august unemployment numbers picked but the real thing we want to watch is what is happening private sector hiring. >> analysts expect to see a sharp drop in employment. the u.s. economy shedding jobs for the third month in a row. >> we believe the unemployment rate will stay elevated for a long time. >> there are some signs of strength. gains in consumer spending and manufacturing. new jobless claims dropped from the week before. the economy is headed and the right direction. >> albeit not as quickly as anybody would like to see. >> fueling fears a weak labor market threading to derail the recovery. >> we need consumer spending to rise and a much faster rate.

the issue is it is probably not going to happen anytime soon. >> some economists predict we will not see a return to pre- recession and unemployment rates for a least five years. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. have a great weekend. >> jury selection continues in the murder trial of three men accused of killing a baltimore city councilman. jennifer franciotti joins us live with what everyone expects to be a long and difficult process equipped it was news to the potential jurors that there were there to potential listen to the ken harris murder trial. there were moments when they found out this trial could last up to five weeks. the judge explained the case involving the murder of ken harris and the length of time

the trial could take. >> i think it will be very difficult. then you take into consideration the media exposure this case already has gone. they have heard so much about this. the could be excluded because they already formed an opinion. >> charles mcganey, gary collins, and jerome williams are charged with murder in the shooting death of ken harris. he had stopped by a jazz club to use the restroom. he was ambushed in the robbery attempt. when the suspect shot harris as he tried to leave the scene. the attorney for gary collins said he thinks dna will be a big issue. >> our unknown individuals involved in dna samples concerning my client. it is back just a single source dna.

it is the dna of him and other people, other unknown individuals. and then cannot be excluded a number of people that are listed including some of the witnesses. >> the prosecution alone is expected to call more than 50, including the woman who said she was with harris the night he was murdered. jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> officials threw the switch on the new blue wave at the national aquarium last night. the old sign was taken down in july and replaced by new more efficient lights. the new site is the same size and shape and color as the original spirit is part of the ongoing 30th anniversary celebration. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. the morning commute is not looking too bad. we do have a down trade in

baltimore county. in ellicott city, there is a downed pole east down 99 waverly woods road. outer loop top and west side, no delays there. six minutes between the beltway and 100. no delays to report. this is greenspring avenue. things are moving just fine there. 95 at caton avenue, same store there. light volume. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> outer bands from earl are going to be giving ocean city a windy and rainy morning. we have clouds overnight from the hurricane. partly cloudy today. a cold front will get through tonight. 90 today. that we break the heat wave in full force once the front clears the area. 62 tonight.

79 unsavvy pre breezy conditions pre plenty of sunshine. plenty of sunshine on monday with low humidity. what a great weekend to look forward to. >> thank you. 73 degrees on tv hill. much more ahead when we come back. >> we are still taking your answers to our water cooler question of the day. do you think a principal's decision to ban an off-color breast cancer bracelet was an overreaction, or appropriate? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> a bank robber learns it does

not pay to of second thoughts. a man is accused of robbing a bank. he eluded police. days later, he returned to the bank giving all the money back. family members say he had just been released from prison and was afraid of going back. so we tried to undo his crime. no good deed goes unpunished. police picked him up. he now faces a possible 20-year prison sentence. >> a new arrival at the zoo in poland. check it out. a baby pygmy hippo made his debut. he was left to splash around in his pool. >> "somebody help me." >> he could grow up to 825 pounds. female hippos are more common than males.

i did not know that. he is cute. >> 73 degrees on tv hill. ating up, we'll take a look the morning headlines. >> we have a couple of incidents to report. >> we continue to track hurricane earl. we have a lovely labor day weekend in store for us. we have some haze

>> welcome back. it looks like a jury selection will be a long process in the trial of three men accused of murdering ken harris. half of the jury pool said the five-week trial would be an undue hardship. others said they were a victim

of a crime and almost two doesn't ask for a private audience with the judge. charles mcganey, gary collins, and jerome williams are accused of killing harris in an attempted robbery in 2008. two boys were arrested after they were found with loaded handguns. the students were caught trying to hide a smith and wesson in the bushes yesterday morning. they're being held at the juvenile detention place. bracelets have been banned from a school. the message on the bracelet has more than one meeting. it reads "i love boobies." the principle is banning the bracelets. he says the double meaning of the message is not appropriate for school. >> that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. we have a lot of mixed

responses. >> this morning we asked -- do you think a principal's decision to ban an off-color breast cancer bracelet was an overreaction, or appropriate?

>> we will post more of your answers on the front page of our website, wbaltv.com. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. not looking too bad out there. we do have a downed tree in baltimore county. in ellicott city, a downed pole is still in the right shoulder at old frederick road road. it is not blocking any lanes so far. the west side and topside are checking in at 11 minutes. we will give you a live look at the northwest corner of the beltway. things are moving freely. moving to 95, southbound traffic, you can see it is very heavy, but no official delays recorded. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> hurricane earl is about 87

minutes to the south-southeast of cape hatteras, north carolina. these bands are heaviest up to virginia beach. even richmond getting some rain. not a lot happening at ocean city right now. hurricane earl went from a category 4 2 category 2. ocean city now starting to get a little bit more rain. there will be bands of heavy rain and the recent tropical storm force winds. we have dodged a bullet. we have one more few of ocean city. the hardest part, the most intense part of the hurricane is on the east side. it will move or to the north east as the day progresses. it has lost intensity. it has moved to the north- northeast at 18 miles per hour. high pressure it is in control.

earl is in between. it is kind of a squeeze play. wind will push it out to the east. we have cooler air behind the cold front. we will drop to the upper 70's of theout themost weekend. we will see a mostly cloudy morning even in baltimore. a little clearer as the sunshine makes an appearance. kind of a mixed bag today. we did cancel the coastal flood advisory. high tide was just a little bit above normal barrett is turbulent on the bay today. current temperatures are pretty soupy out there. mid to upper 70's across the board. we will see morning clouds and then the sunshine will be breaking out later today. today is the last of the 90-

degree days we have been experiencing. seven-day forecast promises a fall relief. with gusts at times, mainly out of the west, but plenty of sunshine and 79. 79 on sunday. 81 on labor day itself. a nice stretch once we get past hurricane earl. >> the arrival of hurricane earl off the shores of maryland. lowell melser it joins us live. he is high and dry. >> i think i prefer it that way. better to be dried and wet. we're seeing wind gusts around 20 miles per hour. the winds are steady around 20 miles per hour out of the northeast. we have moved closer and we see waves anywhere from 12 feet and most of the 12-footers are play

off shore. as the break-in, there anywhere from 80 to 10 feet. -- anywhere from eight to 10 feet. couple of folks making the drive down here to check on their condos and beach houses. at this point, it is pretty much a wind event. a couple of light green jobs here and there. rainof the happieheavier will last through later. at this point, it will stay a mild wind event, 15 to 20 miles per hour down in ocean city. >> glad to see your ok. here's matt lauer with a look at what's coming up next on the "today" show. >> good morning.

the breaking news, hurricane earl lashing the outer banks this morning. al will tell us with the big storm is headed next. then the latest on an attack in washington state. able but had a cup of acid thrown interface. we will hear from the victim. a true miracle that began with a newborn boy declared dead by his doctors. after his mother cuddled him, he turned out to be very much alive. we will meet the whole family when we get started in just a little while on leave from aborted right here on the "today" show. >> that gave me chills. >> interesting. 73 degrees on tv hill. >> another look, weather and traffic together. stay with us. but the love i have for rawberry shortcake,

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>> it is friday for some folks and the weekend is started. >> maybe it is an indication of people leaving town. we do have a downed tree at glen arm. in ellicott city, there is a downed pole on the right shoulder. a live look at the topside of the beltway. no delays there. very light volume for this time of the morning. 95, southbound traffic is a little heavier, but no delays reported. >> we have ocean city and is going to be ready and windy for the next five hours. then earl pulls further away.

more sunshine for us later today. a cold front gets through here. 79 tomorrow for high. a little breezy. winds at of the west. hold onto your hats. very nice. sunshine on sunday and 79381 on monday with plenty of sunshine. be sure to tune into am 1090. there will be traffic and insta- weather-plus forecast together on the fives. >> thank you. >> thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a great friday. >> follow breaking news and weather any time at wbaltv.com, and stay connected with us on facebook and twitter.

>> maryland was awarded one of the coveted race to the top grants. kudos to dr. nancy grasmick, and governor martin o'malley. the grant will provide funds over a four-year period to turn around failing schools. officials will be working on revisions to the corpulent to make sure all graduates already upon graduation. to improve the infrastructure and to charge low performing schools and districts. the federal program is aimed at

boosting student achievement, turning around schools and improving the teaching profession. maryland is watching school accountability. this is the benefit of reform efforts in maryland. this opportunity can change the life of maryland students. it is a great victory for students and the taxpayers of maryland. maryland.

as a career prosecutor i made decisions on facts not politics. in washington, i'm trying to do the same. that's why i voted to crackdown on wall street and protect the bay. and why i voted against the $3 trillion budget, the big bank bailout, and against the health care bill.